The Road to Recovery

I am finally able to breathe again. Luke is walking! It's been a week today. I don't think I've been more afraid in my life...and I can admit that now that it looks like things are back to normal (knock on wood!). I about had a nervous breakdown last Sunday. I just couldn't take it anymore and the thought of having to put Luke through more blood work was absolutely tearing me apart. It had been 11 days of him not walking and more than anything, I NEEDED him to walk again. I was so afraid of what "might be". And of course, I was thinking the worst.... Well, Sunday night Papaw was over and he was determined to make me feel better. He had Luke grab onto his fingers and together they walked from the family room to the kitchen. I was elated but still very concerned because he looked as though maybe he had forgotten how to walk. But....the bottom line was he had taken some steps and that was a good sign.

Monday morning my sister-in-law, Lee Anne, came over to stay with the babies because I was convinced we were going to have to take Luke to the hospital for more tests. Joe and I took him to the pediatrician and he wanted to see him walk. I grabbed Luke's hands and we moved out into the hallway. Luke hates being at the doctor and I swear I have never sen his little legs move so quickly....trying like hell to get out of there! Dr. Cobble decided that since he was improving, we would wait another week and if things weren't back to normal we'd run more tests then. It was such a relief but I was also dreading the wait of another long week. I dropped Luke off at daycare following his doctor appointment and prayed for even the tiniest amount of progress. At the end of the day Joe picked Luke up and I heard them come in the garage door. What happened next was a moment I will hold in my heart forever. Luke walked in from the garage, by himself, and walked all the way over to me in the family room with a huge smile on his face and the most wonderful "Hi Mommy!" I had ever heard!!! My baby was walking without help!!!! He was wobbly but he was walking! That night he was all over the place and he was so happy. It was obvious that not being able to walk was getting him down and we finally were getting our happy boy back!

Here we are, one week later and he's back to normal. He's been a little bit stiff in the mornings but within an hour or so he's perfectly fine. This morning I didn't notice any stiffness what-so-ever. Every day I hold my breath and pray that we won't ever have to face that nightmare again. It was so, so scary. We had the best weekend playing outside, climbing on the play structure and running around in the yard. Ugh......phew.

As for the three other boys....we couldn't have been more blessed. They are the best babies. They fuss when they're hungry but other than that they're content to sleep in their swings or just hang out looking around the room. They're such little angels. (Let's hope it stays that way!) It's so interesting to see their different personalities coming through. Mack is exactly like Luke. He even looks just like Luke did when he was a baby. He is so chill. He never fusses, never spits up, sleeps well, and is just an all around easy baby. His little belly has been bothering him and if not for the little noises he makes, you'd never know it.
Jake is the most alert right now. He's awake a lot of the day and is so aware of everything that's going on around him. He's not much of a fusser either. Nick is our noisy one. He doesn't fuss much either but boy, you know when he's hungry! And when he wants something, he wants it NOW. Hmmm...wonder who he gets that from :-) He makes a lot of noises when he sleeps and moves around a lot. So much so that he was waking his brothers up and we finally had to move them into separate cribs. They all seem to be sleeping well, even though they're apart. Thank goodness.

We hired a nanny to come at night and that was the best decision we have ever made. She is here from 11pm to 7am. She is such a gift. She's a wonderful, caring, thoughtful woman and she absolutely loves the boys. Joe and I both sleep very well at night knowing that they're being well taken care of. Thank you Karen....you're a lifesaver!

Life is more than great right now. It's so nice to breathe easy at least for today. Mom and Dad will be here in a week and we can't wait for them to get here! If I don't get a chance to update before then....Happy Easter!!!!